New Mexico State University

Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg said he was outraged by remarks made Wednesday by New Mexico State administrators, who criticized him for comments he made after an anti-Semitic epithet and racial slurs were apparently directed at Long Beach on Monday night in Las Cruces, N.M.

Jit Baral, a researcher at New Mexico State University, stepped into the lab and pulled a plastic gas mask over his face. He and two students strapped on heavy rubber gloves and lab smocks. They activated an exhaust fan to cycle air quickly from the room. Then Baral gingerly lifted the object that triggered all the precautions -- a small, wrinkled red chile. This was no ordinary pepper.

About this business of Sam Crawford sleeping inside a car, sleeping outdoors, spending his nights feeling abandoned and alone, saying that if not for basketball he would have been suicidal . . . please, he says, let's get this story straight. "I never slept in a car. Never. I slept outside once-- once --but it was at my choice. My aunt forgot I was coming and locked me out. So my friend and I stayed out all night. But I wasn't by myself. I wasn't homeless.

Martin Iti has made more stops than some start-up airlines. After attending one junior high school, six high schools and two colleges since arriving in the United States from Australia in 1998, the 7-foot center is in the NCAA tournament for a third time -- with a second team, New Mexico State. And he still hasn't reached his intended destination. Iti, a 24-year-old junior, has long harbored hopes of playing in the NBA, a possibility that appears to diminish with each passing year.

Jit Baral, a researcher at New Mexico State University, stepped into the lab and pulled a plastic gas mask over his face. He and two students strapped on heavy rubber gloves and lab smocks. They activated an exhaust fan to cycle air quickly from the room. Then Baral gingerly lifted the object that triggered all the precautions -- a small, wrinkled red chile. This was no ordinary pepper.

David Chisum will have no part of 0-21. That is the heritage of the New Mexico State football team. Chisum says it does not belong to him, to this team or to this coaching staff. "You have to understand," he said, almost with boastfulness. " We're 0-4." He stopped, hearing how ridiculous it could sound to assert that with pride. "0h-and-four," he said. "I've never even been Oh-and- 2 before." No one made Chisum take his spiraling passes from Orange County to Las Cruces, N.M.

Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg, angered by several alleged incidents of racism Monday night at New Mexico State, admonished the New Mexico State athletic administration and its fans after the Aggies' 76-63 Big West Conference victory in front of 5,554 at the Pan American Center. Greenberg laced into New Mexico State in a postgame tirade, in which he said his players were called racial epithets late in the second half.

Former Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward, who led the Cowboys to 10 College World Series appearances in 19 seasons, replaced his son as coach at New Mexico State on Wednesday. Rocky Ward, the Aggies' coach the past four seasons, will remain as an assistant coach after the school decided to reorganize the program. The Aggies went 19-36 last season, including 4-26 in the Big West Conference.

After a one-year absence from the basketball doubleheader, UCLA will play in the John R. Wooden Classic, to be held Dec. 6 at the Pond of Anaheim. The Bruins will play New Mexico, and Stanford and Georgia are expected to play in the other game. This will be the fourth Wooden Classic. The Bruins played in the first two but missed last year's, instead playing against Kansas at Pauley Pavilion the day of the Anaheim event.

New Mexico State officials said they expect to complete their investigation today into the origin of an anti-Semitic epithet and several alleged incidents of racism that were apparently directed at Long Beach State on Monday night in Las Cruces, N.M., and will forward their results to the Big West Conference for review.

The man has star quality. But you have to wonder: Do players know who the New Mexico State coach is because he was a two-time NBA All-Star in the 1980s, or because he played Coach Bill Fuller on the NBC Saturday morning show "Hang Time" for three years in the 1990s? Reggie Theus, who starred at Inglewood High and played in the 1977 Final Four for Jerry Tarkanian at Nevada Las Vegas before a 13-season NBA career, has turned New Mexico State around in a hurry.

Former Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward, who led the Cowboys to 10 College World Series appearances in 19 seasons, replaced his son as coach at New Mexico State on Wednesday. Rocky Ward, the Aggies' coach the past four seasons, will remain as an assistant coach after the school decided to reorganize the program. The Aggies went 19-36 last season, including 4-26 in the Big West Conference.

Lou Henson flashes a vast-as-the-prairie grin and almost hops from behind his desk in the New Mexico State basketball office. His 36 years in college basketball have slowed him, some. The patch of red hair that sparked is-it-live-or-is-it-Memorex debates is thinner, grayer and clearly his own. But the smile still beams disarmingly. Few schoomze better. Henson sits on the couch to chat instead of speaking from across the desk. He punctuates his points with a light touch on the shoulder.

The reshaping of the Big West Conference could be completed within three weeks because New Mexico State and North Texas have requested to leave the conference a year early, conference commissioner Dennis Farrell said Monday. The two schools were scheduled to move to the Sun Belt Conference in 2001-2002 but might leave beginning next fall in all sports except football and, possibly, women's soccer.

Neil McCarthy, New Mexico State's all-time winningest basketball coach, was stripped of coaching duties Thursday and accused of overemphasizing victory at the expense of academics. McCarthy, 56, who had amassed 248 Aggie victories and a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 12 years, will be replaced this season by former New Mexico State and Illinois Coach Lou Henson, one of the most successful Division I coaches.

For two years, Kendall Blackburn did his bit to turn the Cal State Northridge football program into a winner. He would like nothing more than to see the Matadors fail on Saturday. Moreover, he's getting paid to help make it happen. Blackburn, once a Northridge assistant, is the tight ends coach at New Mexico State (0-2), which plays host to Northridge (1-1) in a nonconference game at Aggie Memorial Stadium. "I'm sure it'll be a funny feeling being on the other sideline," Blackburn said.

Pacific and New Mexico State are the Big West Conference men's basketball coaches' preseason favorites to win their divisions. Pacific, which returns four starters, got seven first-place votes to finish first in the Western Division. Long Beach State, the defending conference champion, received five votes. In the Eastern Division, New Mexico State got seven first-place votes to Utah State's five. The conference is divided into divisions beginning this season.

After a one-year absence from the basketball doubleheader, UCLA will play in the John R. Wooden Classic, to be held Dec. 6 at the Pond of Anaheim. The Bruins will play New Mexico, and Stanford and Georgia are expected to play in the other game. This will be the fourth Wooden Classic. The Bruins played in the first two but missed last year's, instead playing against Kansas at Pauley Pavilion the day of the Anaheim event.

New Mexico State basketball Coach Neil McCarthy was reprimanded Thursday by the school and Big West Conference for publicly criticizing game officials in the Aggies' loss at Texas-El Paso on Dec. 4. McCarthy already has apologized for making an obscene hand gesture after being ejected from the game.